LONDON: Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and his family retained their top spot as Britain's richest for the seventh year in succession while the combined worth of the country's 1000 wealthiest individuals defied double-dip recession to reach record levels during the last year. Mittal, 61, and his family's worth came down by 4,814 million pounds, but they were still the richest in Britain with a net worth of 12.7 billion pounds, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, which annually releases the worth of Britain's wealthiest individuals.

NEW YORK: With networth of $ 21.5 billion, Mukesh Ambani has retained his title as India's richest person for sixth year in a row, while Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim has emerged as wealthiest in the world for the fourth consecutive year. In the overall rich list of world's billionaires, as per an annual ranking published today by business magazine Forbes, Mukesh Ambani is ranked 22nd, while the second-richest Indian Lakshmi Mittal is at 41st position with a networth of $ 16.5 billion.

LONDON: How do you justify celebrating filthy lucre at a time of extreme austerity? Usually an annual celebration of the super-rich in Britain, the Sunday Times Rich list for 2011 tries hard to find philanthropists, women, self-made entrepreneurs and all the rest that might make it inspirational. Unfortunately, the numbers just don't add up - the rich have gotten 18% richer than last year, hedge fund managers and bankers still rake in the cash, making up almost 5.5% of the total, land-owners are the single-largest segment, and philanthropy is dropping like a bomb - by £818 million in just the past year.

How do you justify celebrating filthy lucre at a time of extreme austerity? Usually an annual celebration of the super-rich in Britain, the Sunday Times Rich list for 2011 tries hard to find philanthropers, women, self-made entrepeneurs and all the rest that might make it inspirational. Unfortunately, the numbers just don't add up – the rich have gotten 18% richer than last year, hedge fund managers and bankers still rake in the cash, making up almost 5.5% of the total, landowners are the single largest segment, and the philanthropy is dropping like a bomb – by GBP 818 million in just the past year.

LONDON: It's not a good year to be in metals,mining or owning football clubs. Lakshmi Mittal , who still retains his tag as the richest man in Britain , topping the annual Sunday Times Rich list , is GBP4.8 billion poorer than he was last year, with his wealth estimated at GBP12.7bn - the main reason, a Eurozone crisis that has eroded the share price of Arcelor Mittal. Anil Agarwal , Vedanta's promoter, has seen his position dropping from 12th place to 26, thanks, again to dropping share prices that's seen his wealth erode by GBP1.5 bn. Ravi Ruia , who entered the list last year at number 12, has also seen his share price bomb, and in 2012 clocks in at 33, with his wealth almost halved by GBP2.9 bn to GBP 2 bn. The newspaper noted that Essar Global, which was valued around GBP 5.4 bn in 2010 when it floated, is now valued at GBP 1.6 bn. The only Indians who have seen their position going up are Sri and Gopichand Hinduja, who last hit the headlines for buying a palatial mansion at Carlton Terrace, within a stone's throw of Buckingham Palace in Pall Mall, who are now estimated to be worth GBP8.6bn, up by GBP 2.6 bn from last year.

LONDON: How do you justify celebrating filthy lucre at a time of extreme austerity? Usually an annual celebration of the super-rich in Britain, the Sunday Times Rich list for 2011 tries hard to find philanthropists, women, self-made entrepreneurs and all the rest that might make it inspirational. Unfortunately, the numbers just don't add up - the rich have gotten 18% richer than last year, hedge fund managers and bankers still rake in the cash, making up almost 5.5% of the total, land-owners are the single-largest segment, and philanthropy is dropping like a bomb - by £818 million in just the past year.

LONDON: Indian-origin steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal , with an estimated wealth of 17.51 billion pounds, has retained his position as the richest person in the UK for the 7th year in a row in 2011, though his wealth declined by 4.93 billion pounds during the last one year. The Sunday Times Rich List 2011 shows that Mittal continues to top Britain's wealthiest with a personal fortune of 17.5 billion pounds. According to the list, Mittal's fortune has declined from 22.45 billion pounds in 2010 to 17.51 billion pounds in 2011 mainly because of plunging share prices in the past year, reducing the value of his stake in ArcelorMittal from 18.45 billion to 13.65 billion pounds.

LONDON: NRI industrialists Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja have made it to the top ten in the Sunday Times Rich List for Britain and Ireland and are placed at seventh position, closely followed by India-born steel magnate Sunil Mittal at twelfth position. Hinduja brothers, who were at 35th place with a fortune of 700 million last year, now have wealth of 1,836 million pounds, according to the List published on Sunday. The Hindujas, who are facing trial in the Bofors case in India, own the 400-million pounds Gulf Oil Trading Company.

Johannesburg: NRI steel baron Lakshmi Mittal , who was at the top in South Africa's richest businessmen list for six consecutive years, has dropped down to 9th position this year due to plummeting share price of ArcelorMittal SA. Mittal has continued to drop down the rankings since last last year when he was ranked third after losing the top spot which he held for six consecutive years previously. This year Mittal took the 9th position. Although not a resident in South Africa, Mittal's name has been included on the list of the South Africa's richest businessmen because of his share holding in ArcelorMittal SA - the steel giant that bore out of Mittal's takeover of former state-owned monopoly Iscor about a decade ago. Mittal's wealth dropped substantially with the ArcelorMittal SA share price having almost halved in the past year.